: Indian Handlooms – A Priced Legacy @supportweaversindia #IndiaNEWS #Business India is a nation of contrasts and is endowed with a rich textile legacy. Each region in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari

Indian Handlooms – A Priced Legacy @supportweaversindia #IndiaNEWS #Business
India is a nation of contrasts and is endowed with a rich textile legacy. Each region in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari produce a wide variety of unique and distinctive fabrics that serve as mediums to record local folklore, traditions and beliefs of their respective regions while carrying their regional identities. It is estimated that India is home to more than 100 such priceless textiles, despite the fact that the precise number of handloom fabrics in this country has never been determined and some have already been lost to time.

Indian handloom products are in high demand across the globe due to the high level of creativity and exquisiteness of the Indian weaves, as well as the distinctive colour combinations made possible by the use of several indigenous natural dyes and their combinations. This is evidenced by the fact that 95% of the world hand woven fabrics are produced in India. The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc are among the major importers of Indian handloom products. At the domestic front, the indigenous Indian handloom industry is the second largest employment provider after agriculture and employs about 5 lakh weavers working on over 23 lakh handlooms. It contributes significantly to both export revenue and the national GDP signifying high returns of a barely viable activity undertaken mostly as a cultural endeavour.

Few well-known and popular Indian hand woven textiles:

Sl. No.
State
Hand-woven Textiles

1
Andhra Pradesh
Venkatgiri sari, Mangalgiri sari, Uppada sari, Dharmavaram sari and Telia sari

2
Assam
Muga/eri silk mekhala and sari

3
Bihar
Tassar silk sari and Bhagalpuri chadar

4
Chhattisgarh
Kosa silk sari and dress material

5
Gujarat
Patola sari, Mashru fabric and Bhujodi shawl

6
Karnataka
Ilkal sari, Mysore silk sari and Udupi cotton sari

7
Kashmir
Pashmina kani/jamawar / amlikar shawl

8
Kerala
Kasuvu

9
Madhya Pradesh
Chanderi sari and Maheshwari sari

10
Maharashtra
Paithani sari, Himroo shawl and Khana fabric

11
Manipur
Moirang Phee, Phanek and Innaphi,

12
Nagaland
Tsungkotepsu/Mangkotepsu shawl, Rongsu shawl, Phom Naga shawl, Metsu shawl and Konyak Naga shawl/sash

13
Odisha
Sambalpur sari, Bichitrapuri sari, Sakatpar sari, Khandua sari, Habaspuri sari and Koraput sari

14
Tamil Nadu
Kanjeevaram sari, Arni sari, Kornad sari and Coimbatore cotton sari

15
Telengana
Gadwal sari, Narayanpet sari, Siddhipet sari and Pochampally ikat sari and dress material

16
Uttar Pradesh
Banaras brocade saris, tanchoi sari

17
West Bengal
Baluchari sari, Garad sari, Donekhali sari, Santipuri cotton sari, Phulia taant sari and dhuti

This industry is currently at a crossroad with the rise in popularity of the synthetic mill-made counterparts that can be mass produced in shorter time, are easy to maintain and are less expensive.